Solo Scientific Projects? No, Thanks.
Having put his idea of Mining Software Repositories into practice, Ahmed Hassan focused on building a scientific community around this area of study. His dedicated efforts in this regard seem to have been as successful as his ideas in the field of MSR.
MSTF media reports:
In October 2023, when Ahmed Hassan came to Isfahan to receive the Mustafa(pbuh) Prize, we had a brief friendly chat with him at the Abbasi Hotel, along with some members of the Observatory. We finally got to ask him a question that had been on our minds for a long time: Why is building a community around Mining Software Repositories crucial, and why has he devoted his focus to it?
His response showed how closely his success is interwoven with this community: “Had I sat alone in my lab, not sharing my ideas with the world, we would not have achieved what we have today. If that had been the case, there would be no prize now, no progress. Many of the technologies developed at MSR have come to fruition and been adopted by companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. Therefore, the spread of MSR around the world is not solely my work, but rather the result of the attention to this field and contributions from many people worldwide. They accepted our idea, which initially sounded ridiculous, and made all these wonderful technologies happen. That’s why bringing all these people together to expand this field was a must.”
He believes that while it is commendable for an individual scientist to focus on a narrow scientific subject, contributions by other scientists are essential. With their contributions, the heaviest of burdens seem light. He reminds us: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
This article was previously published in the second issue of the Observatory magazine.
